Practices, not a single philosophy
Talking about traditional Apache environmental practices means describing what people did, not summing up a belief system for all Apache peoples. The Western Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Jicarilla, Lipan and Plains Apache lived in different places, so practices differed. The descriptions here come mostly from ethnographic accounts recorded in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and they describe the past, though many practices continue in some form. Ceremonies and sacred knowledge are outside this article’s scope, since much of that is not shared publicly.
Moving with the seasons
The most visible practice was movement. Families shifted between camps over the year to follow ripening plants, game and workable weather, a pattern described in outline in work on the Western Apache seasonal round. Staying mobile spread use across many places rather than depleting one. It was also practical: a place might be too hot, cold or dry at certain times. Camps were commonly built from local materials such as brush, poles and hides, in forms often called wickiups, and could be left behind without much loss.
Careful harvesting
Accounts of gathering describe selectivity and timing. Plants were usually taken when they were ready for use and in forms suited to the purpose. Agave, for example, was cut at a stage before the flowering stalk grew tall, when the heart was best for roasting, and the preparation of mescal roasting in earthen pits took days of work by groups of people. Gatherers also left much behind: most of an area’s plants, seeds and nuts were not taken, and families moved on to other places. Scholars caution that these practices should be understood as skillful use rather than as a formal conservation code.
A wide range of plants was used for food, fiber, tools and medicine. Documented examples include acorns, pinyon nuts, juniper berries, mesquite pods, yucca and cactus fruits, with different plants important in different regions. The same plant could serve several purposes, as with yucca, whose fruit, fiber and roots were all used.
Materials for making
Apache crafts relied on local plants. Basketry plant materials differed by group and region and included willow, sumac and yucca, among others, collected at seasons when they were suitable. Wood, hides, bone and plant fibers were used to make shelters, containers, cradleboards and clothing. Knowing where to find good material and when to gather it was part of a maker’s knowledge, and it tied craft to particular places.
Hunting
Hunting was an important activity for many groups, with deer the main game across much of the Southwest and bison significant for groups with access to the plains. Apache hunting depended on knowledge of animal habits, the lay of the land and the seasons. Hunters were expected to use what they took, and hides, bone and sinew were all used. Accounts describe customs and observances around hunting, some of which belong to private or religious knowledge and are not described here.
Water and place
In dry country, water sources were central. People knew the locations of springs, seeps and natural rock basins and returned to them. Where streams allowed it, some Western Apache families farmed with small ditches, a practice sometimes mentioned alongside Western Apache irrigation. Knowing a country meant knowing its names and stories as well, as seen in studies of Apache place names, which helped people recall locations and what happened there.
Fire
Some researchers suggest that Apache people, like other Native peoples in the Southwest, sometimes used fire to encourage grass or improve hunting, but the evidence is limited and debated, and it is not clear how widespread such practices were among different groups. It is mentioned here because it is part of ongoing scholarly discussion, not because it is firmly established.
Teaching and sharing
Knowledge was passed along through practice and instruction. Children and young people learned by gathering with relatives, listening to elders and hearing stories, including those in the winter storytelling season, when some accounts say certain stories were told. Elders held important roles in teaching, a point developed in the discussion of Apache elders teaching. Some knowledge was held by particular people or families and was not for everyone, and that restriction continues today, one reason published material gives only a partial picture.
Continuity and change
By the late 1800s, the reservation system, military campaigns and loss of land had greatly restricted these practices. Many families were unable to travel and gather as before. Even so, parts of the knowledge survived and are being taught, and some communities work to keep plants, languages and gathering traditions alive. For current programs and appropriate ways to learn, readers should consult the relevant nation’s official sources.